Copy and paste this worksheet as a separate page linked to the Homepage of your portfolio. DO NOT type your answers on THIS document because it needs to be used by other students. The title of your page which replies to these questions is linked to your portfolio and should begin with the first initials of your first and last name. (In my case, the link to this worksheet from my portfolio page would read frtrifles.)
You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, August, 25). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points, if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Trifles. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
The play opens in a cold farmhouse that has been left in disarray in the winter. The sheriff, county attorney, a man named Mr. Hale, his wife Mrs. Hale, and the sheriff's wife Mrs. Peters are all present in the stasis at the beginning of the play.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion occurs when the women find the carcass of Mrs. Wright's canary. It looks to have been killed because someone wrung its neck, much like the way Mr. Wright was killed.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The men are investigating the murder of the owner of the house, Mr. Wright, and the women are gathering items for Mrs. Wright, who is in jail after being accused of murdering her husband.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Did Mrs. Wright murder her husband? / Who killed Mr. Wright?
5. Use Ms. Hale to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for Ms. Hale.
Mrs. Hale battles a conflict within herself. She continues to express her guilt throughout the play for not visiting Mrs. Wright more often. Another conflict seen throughout the play is between the men and the women. The men, particularly the county attorney, jeer the women for worrying about seemingly small details; for example, the women are worried because Mrs. Wright's fruit jars froze, and the men are working to solve a murder case. The women get somewhat defensive, but they do not really express their defense when the men are around because during this time period, women were submissive to men. Another conflict seen in the play is at the very end with the women vs. society, particularly the law. The women defy the law when they decide to hide the evidence of the dead bird rather than reporting it to the attorney and sheriff in order to protect Mrs. Wright. They feel the need to protect her because they are sympathetic to her because they knew how beautiful and happy she was before she married Mr. Wright.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Trifles.
The most theatrical moments occur towards the end of the play. The intrusion of the dead canary is a theatrical moment because it reveals a motive for Mrs. Wright to kill her husband. Another theatrical moment occurs when the men return and the women hide the dead bird rather than showing it to the men for as evidence. This action is shocking because no one would expect these two innocent women to cover for a murderer, but their intensions to protect Mrs. Wright were purely sympathetic.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Trifles. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
The house is cold in the play because the fire in the stove is withering. The withering flames of the fire represent burning out of the Wrights' love for one another. Another image seen in the play is the canary. The canary represented Mrs. Wright in that it was beautiful and sang a beautiful song, but Mr. Wright killed it. Mr. Wright also killed Mrs. Wright's spirit in their marriage. Another image seen in the play is the bird cage. The cage represents the lack of freedom Mrs. Wright had in her marriage. The cage door was broken when Mr. Wright killed the canary. In a similar way, Mrs. Wright broke away from the confinement of her marriage by killing Mr. Wright.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Trifles.
One theme seen in Trifles includes feminism. Even though Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know they are breaking the law, they are sympathetic to Mrs. Wright's reasoning to killing her husband. They know that he crushed her spirit, and they feel that he got what he deserved. This reasoning leads to another theme in the play: justice. The women know that the murder was wrong, but they sympathize with Mrs. Wright's reasoning behind the murder. They decide that being married to Mr. Wright was punishment enough, so she shouldn't have to serve time in prison. For this reason, the women protect her.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with Trifles? Is family redefined in Trifles?
The depiction of family in the play is not a happy one. Throughout the play, the audience and characters find out how truly unhappy Mrs. Wright was in her relationship with her husband. After the women find the dead canary, they hide the evidence from the men investigating the death in order to protect Mrs. Wright. While the women most likely felt this action was just because they were aware of how Mr. Wright treated his wife, they probably also felt that this was their chance to take a stand against the men. This action reveals that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters may also feel somewhat oppressed in their own marriages. After all, the men were making fun of them for paying attention to seemingly unimportant details, yet they found the evidence to convict Mrs. Wright in those trifles.
Worksheet for Trifles
Copy and paste this worksheet as a separate page linked to the Homepage of your portfolio. DO NOT type your answers on THIS document because it needs to be used by other students. The title of your page which replies to these questions is linked to your portfolio and should begin with the first initials of your first and last name. (In my case, the link to this worksheet from my portfolio page would read frtrifles.)
You may earn a maximum of 3 points toward your final grade by doing the above and answering the questions and submitting them on time (no later than Friday, August, 25). Any worksheets submitted after the deadline will get a 0.
You will be rewarded a maximum of 3 points, if I judge your work to be above average. You will receive 2 points if your work is average, that is it may have a few minor mistakes in some of the answers but demonstrates correct grammar and indicates that some, but not all, of the answers, are acceptable and well expressed. You will earn only 1 point if you simply answered the questions and/or if you use poor grammar and if there are signs that you have not read the material on which your answers are based.
1. In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of Trifles. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
The play opens in a cold farmhouse that has been left in disarray in the winter. The sheriff, county attorney, a man named Mr. Hale, his wife Mrs. Hale, and the sheriff's wife Mrs. Peters are all present in the stasis at the beginning of the play.
2. What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
The intrusion occurs when the women find the carcass of Mrs. Wright's canary. It looks to have been killed because someone wrung its neck, much like the way Mr. Wright was killed.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
The men are investigating the murder of the owner of the house, Mr. Wright, and the women are gathering items for Mrs. Wright, who is in jail after being accused of murdering her husband.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
Did Mrs. Wright murder her husband? / Who killed Mr. Wright?
5. Use Ms. Hale to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is the dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what the character wants (NOTE: In Trifles the wants of Ms. Hale change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles for Ms. Hale.
Mrs. Hale battles a conflict within herself. She continues to express her guilt throughout the play for not visiting Mrs. Wright more often. Another conflict seen throughout the play is between the men and the women. The men, particularly the county attorney, jeer the women for worrying about seemingly small details; for example, the women are worried because Mrs. Wright's fruit jars froze, and the men are working to solve a murder case. The women get somewhat defensive, but they do not really express their defense when the men are around because during this time period, women were submissive to men. Another conflict seen in the play is at the very end with the women vs. society, particularly the law. The women defy the law when they decide to hide the evidence of the dead bird rather than reporting it to the attorney and sheriff in order to protect Mrs. Wright. They feel the need to protect her because they are sympathetic to her because they knew how beautiful and happy she was before she married Mr. Wright.
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Trifles.
The most theatrical moments occur towards the end of the play. The intrusion of the dead canary is a theatrical moment because it reveals a motive for Mrs. Wright to kill her husband. Another theatrical moment occurs when the men return and the women hide the dead bird rather than showing it to the men for as evidence. This action is shocking because no one would expect these two innocent women to cover for a murderer, but their intensions to protect Mrs. Wright were purely sympathetic.
7. Provide at least three examples of images in Trifles. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
The house is cold in the play because the fire in the stove is withering. The withering flames of the fire represent burning out of the Wrights' love for one another. Another image seen in the play is the canary. The canary represented Mrs. Wright in that it was beautiful and sang a beautiful song, but Mr. Wright killed it. Mr. Wright also killed Mrs. Wright's spirit in their marriage. Another image seen in the play is the bird cage. The cage represents the lack of freedom Mrs. Wright had in her marriage. The cage door was broken when Mr. Wright killed the canary. In a similar way, Mrs. Wright broke away from the confinement of her marriage by killing Mr. Wright.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Trifles.
One theme seen in Trifles includes feminism. Even though Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know they are breaking the law, they are sympathetic to Mrs. Wright's reasoning to killing her husband. They know that he crushed her spirit, and they feel that he got what he deserved. This reasoning leads to another theme in the play: justice. The women know that the murder was wrong, but they sympathize with Mrs. Wright's reasoning behind the murder. They decide that being married to Mr. Wright was punishment enough, so she shouldn't have to serve time in prison. For this reason, the women protect her.
9. Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with Trifles? Is family redefined in Trifles?
The depiction of family in the play is not a happy one. Throughout the play, the audience and characters find out how truly unhappy Mrs. Wright was in her relationship with her husband. After the women find the dead canary, they hide the evidence from the men investigating the death in order to protect Mrs. Wright. While the women most likely felt this action was just because they were aware of how Mr. Wright treated his wife, they probably also felt that this was their chance to take a stand against the men. This action reveals that Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters may also feel somewhat oppressed in their own marriages. After all, the men were making fun of them for paying attention to seemingly unimportant details, yet they found the evidence to convict Mrs. Wright in those trifles.